Vaishnava · Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Simhachalam
Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha, covered in sandal paste all year
HealthGeneral
The temple in short
- Deity
- Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha, covered in sandal paste all year
- Where
- Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh · 17.77N 83.25E
- Usual hours
- 6 am – 12.30 pm, 4 pm – 8.30 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Sevvai
- Visited for
- The form is seen only on Akshaya Tritiya, when the sandal is removed for Chandanotsavam. Visited for protection and for skin complaints.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana has it that after Hiranyakasipu was killed, Narasimha stayed on this hill in a form combining Varaha and Narasimha, and that Prahlada built the first shrine to him.
The shrine is said to have been lost and later found again by the king Pururava, who was told to keep the image covered in sandal paste and to uncover it only on one day in the year. That instruction is the reason for what the temple does today.
What is recorded
Documented history
The deity is covered in a thick coat of sandalwood paste throughout the year and the true form is seen only at Chandanotsavam on Akshaya Tritiya, when the coating is removed for a day and replaced.
The temple carries a substantial body of inscriptions. It was rebuilt under the Eastern Gangas and received later gifts from Vijayanagara; Krishnadevaraya is recorded among its donors.
What there is to see
Description
What a visitor normally sees is a smooth pillar of sandal paste, not an image. The photographs of the uncovered form, which show a figure with a boar’s head and a lion’s body, are sold outside.
The Kappa Stambham, a pillar in the courtyard that people embrace while making a request, and the sixteen-pillared Natya mandapam are in the enclosure.
The temple stands on a wooded hill above Visakhapatnam with a road and a long flight of steps going up.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
Chandanotsavam on Akshaya Tritiya is the one day the deity is seen, and the crowd is very large for it.
The Kalyanotsavam in Chaitra, Narasimha Jayanti and the Giri Pradakshina round the hill are the other observances.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, Simhagiri
- Period
- Rebuilt in the thirteenth century under the Eastern Gangas, with later Vijayanagara additions
- Reaching it
- Simhachalam is about 16 km from Visakhapatnam city. Simhachalam North is the nearest railway station, and buses and autos run up the hill road.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
- Sri Suryanarayana Swamy Temple, Arasavalli 90.6 km · Other
- Sri Kurmanatha Swamy Temple, Srikurmam 97.7 km · Vaishnava
- Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Temple, Annavaram 104.7 km · Vaishnava
- Puruhutika Devi and Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple, Pithapuram 129.9 km · Sakta (Amman)
- Kumara Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Samalkota 140.4 km · Saiva
- Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Draksharama 166.8 km · Saiva
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
A contribution carries a name, so a reader knows whose account it came from. That is why it needs an account, and it is the only reason.
Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.